Allianz ladies Slovak Open reduced to 54 holes after heavy downpour
Third round of the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open on the Ladies European Tour came to a sudden halt when thick clouds covered the skies, followed by a massive downpour. Caroline Hedwall, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement and Rachel Jennings had finished their eight
holes when the tour organizers decided to call it a day at the Gray Bear Golf Club in Tale’, Slovakia.
Most of the bunkers were inundated while the greens and fairways were flooded with heavy rain. The third round tee-ed off earlier than the scheduled time but all measures came to grief as rain thrashed the course early in the morning. The tournament has
now been reduced to 54 holes and will resume late in the afternoon with the “shotgun” format of the play.
Tournament Director Yvonne Cassidy lamented the bad weather conditions and revealed the “shotgun” format to take into effect on Sunday.
“To get today’s round finished tomorrow, we could have gone after the fog, but then to get round four finished, we have a further threat of thunder storms tomorrow afternoon, so it was felt that you could have a situation where you’ve got players out at
eight o’clock at night and we don’t get finished and have to revert back to the 54-hole leader. We’ve agreed to finish at 2.45pm tomorrow, which was the original finish time, so fingers crossed we’ll have a good day.” said Cassidy.
Hedwall of Sweden and Clement from France had gained an early lead with their opening holes, snatching the lead from the overnight leader Jennings. Both players are tied for the top slot with their seven-under, and still have 10 holes to play. Jennings,
who had been leading the tournament with her phenomenal putting for two consecutive days, suffered a setback in the third round and is currently at the second spot with her six-under. She is one of the rookies on the tour and is looking for her maiden victory
on the tour.
Further down the leaderboard, three players are in contention for the fourth place including last week’s Turkish Airlines Ladies Open winner, Christel Boeljon of Netherlands, accompanied by Australian Karen Lunn, and Malene Jorgensen of Denmark.
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